Art: At close range

Tom Stoddarts photographs are works of art that capture death, pain and the human spirit, says Cristin Leach

Two years ago when Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, urged the United Nations to take military action against Iraq, he spoke to the press outside the security council’s chamber, in front of a tapestry reproduction of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.

Picasso painted his famous anti-war piece in response to the devastation of the Basque town during the Spanish civil war. The artist did not witness the destruction — he was living in Paris at the time — yet his painting, with its twisted limbs, silent screams and newspaper-grey hues, is one of the most iconic and important depictions of war in 20th-century art.

On the day Powell made his address, the UN secretariat hung a large blue curtain in front of the Guernica tapestry along with some flags. The reason, they later said, was to provide a more neutral background for the television and photographers’ cameras. The symbolism, however, was irresistible.